Make sure you don’t miss the release of Olde Rabbit’s Foot, an Imperial Stout brewed with honey and cocoa nibs, and aged in bourbon barrels.

Olde Rabbit’s Foot is a collaborative brew between three North Carolina Brewers Guild members: Olde Hickory Brewery, Duck-Rabbit Craft Brewery, and Foothills Brewing Company. Each brewery made one-third of the wort, it was blended before fermentation and then aged in 23-year-old Pappy van Winkle barrels for 4 months.

Jamie Bartholomaus of Foothills took a few moments to share his thoughts on the process:

Getting to work with the other brewers was the most fun part for me. From inception of the whole idea, down to the label design, getting to work side by side with some of the most accomplished brewers in North Carolina and the Southeast has just been a real pleasure. We are so excited about it, we have already begun initial plans for the next round.

Paul and Steven are great brewers, and doing a collaboration with them has really invigorated my desire for a more cooperative environment in the NC beer scene. Also working on the North Carolina Brewer’s Guild since its inception has helped me see, more now than ever, that as the whole craft industry grows, so my company will grow with it. Collaborative efforts make sense not just from a beer perspective, but as a business. Working together, sharing services such as trucking, raw material purchasing, etc. is the future of our business. By doing this sort of thing, it helps small companies like us compete in the ever changing, ever consolidating beer industry.

The logo was created by Shapiro Walker Design. David Shapiro is the mastermind behind all of Foothills art, The NCBG logo, and now our project Olde Rabbit’s Foot. Forrest Causby, who works at Shapiro Walker, was the actual artist who created the art. With the guidance of David Shapiro, we think the label has turned out fantastic.

Steven Lyerly, brewmaster at Olde Hickory Brewery, does not make an Imperial Stout as part of their regular line. His is the wort with the honey in it. He added:

Moving beer about, especially in and out of barrels is always a challenge. Bottling is also a challenge, mostly; but it is all in a days work at a brewery. For me, the most challenging part of the whole project was getting the approval of the Government. That was a real job! It took months, many emails, phone calls, letters and begging and pleading. We even offered to pay twice the tax on the beer, and were turned down! Finally, we were able to reach a solution.

To my knowledge this is the first “blended” beer made in NC. Previous projects have revolved around different brewers brewing the same beer using same ingredients but at different breweries. Or, different brewers working on the design and production of a special beer, but brewed at one brewery. Our project was much different. We used the brew houses, ingredients and creativeness of three different brewers working independently; and blended them all together in some amazing barrels. Really, the barrels are the common thread in Olde Rabbit’s Foot.

625 22 oz. bottles will be released on Saturday at the Foothills Brewing Company in Winston-Salem. Sales start when the pub opens at 11:00 AM. They are $20/each and there is a limit of 4 bottles per person.

Friday night, before the release, Foothills is hosting an informal Beer Advocate gathering. If you’re nearby, bring something rare from your cellar to share with old and new friends, and get into the spirit of sharing and great, rare beer.